Drain-valve for well-pipes.



W. N. LINDSEY. DRAIN VALVE FOR WELL PIPES. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22.I911.

Patented May 21, 1918.

nyvemon 7/? WI INESSES M a W a r ATTORNEY srasrns (JEFIGE.

non. LINDSEY, or onnunn, 'rnxas.

DRAIN-VALVE F03 WELL-PIPES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. lylay 21 1918.

Application filed June 22, 1917. Serial No. 176,896.

' To all whom it may concern:

Bait known that I,--WILL1AM N. LmosEY, a c t zen of the United States,residing at Cle1ide," in'the county of Armstrong and State of Texaahaveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Drain-Valves ifor"Well-Pipes, of which the following is a provide a drain -valveadapted tobe positionedin the stand pipe of a-well below the surface of theground,and which may be actuated in cold weather so as tope-rmlt of "the waterin the pipe being drained back saw the well, whereby danger of injury tothe pumping apparatus or bursting-of the ipes. by"freezingwill beobviated.

A further and particular object of the invention is to provide a drainapparatus of the character nientionedfwhich is capable of bein' readilyapplied' to the .well pipe atthje esired place I and which requires nospecially constructed pipe or apparatus for I its installation.

Still fnrther objects reside in providing an apparatus of the characterdescribed which is of extremely simple and inexpensive construction,which is positive in its operations, which involves comparatively few.movableparts, the various parts being so constructed and assembled as"to. minimize the opportunity for wear, breakage or de- 'inclosed by ametallic strap Indicated at 8,

ran ment of the same, which is easy of 0 era'tlon, and which w ll provethorough y practical in use.

' With these objects in viewtogether with others which'willappearas thedescription roceeds, the invention resides in the novel orniation,combin ation and arrangement of parts, all as will be described morefully hereinafter; illustrated in the drawings, and

particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a; portion of a conventional form ofwell pipe, and

illustrating the applicationof a drain valve 1 and operatingmeansconstructed in accordance with the invention,

- port 9 is secured, and within which is Fig. 2 is a similar view, partsbroken away, and illustrating the movablepai'ts of the valve andactuating mechanism in changed position,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail perspective view of the locking arm used incarrying out the invention,

'Fig. 4 is anenlar d transverse sectional view;taken substantially uponline 44 of fFig. 2, and

5 ,is a detail perspective view of the belll-crank lever which actuatesthe drain vave.

Referring now to the drawing, 6 indicates tire stand pi eof a well, thesaid pipe being made of a p urality of pipe sections. This i'pipe,extends down into the water of the well at its lower end, and theupper end of the said pipe projects above the ground, and

" well pipes at this character are usually provided with alongitudinally reciprocable sucker rod'which carries at its lower endthe pump piston. The sucker rod and plunger or piston forming no part ofthe invention, are not illustrated in the drawing.

The invention comprehends a valve adapted to be positioned in the standpipe of the well below the ground surface, and which may be actuatedwhen desired to drain the Water standing in the pipe. In carrying outthe invention, the valve is arranged in a relatively short pipesectionindicated at 7, so thatthis section may be readily interposedbetween the adjacent ends of any of the: inain pipe sections. Thesection 7 is upon which a substantially U-shaped sup- .P otd at 10 avalve stem 11. This stem 11 is bent at right angles at its lower end asshown, and carries a valve head 12 at the be equipped with a washer orgasket 14, so

as to preclude the escape of water from the pipe when the valve 1sseated. The strap member 8 also confines between itself and the member 7a vertically disposed strap 15, .totlreupper end of which an outwardlyextendin arm 16 is secured. Pivoted as at 17 to t is arm is a bell-cranklever 18, the extremities of one of the arms of which is provided with alaterally extending finger 19, which rests within a recesssed portion 20in the outer surface of the upper end of the valve stem 11. An expansionspring 21 is interposed between the strap member 15 and the upper end ofthe valve stem 11, and this spring holds the valve normally closed. Thevalve stem and strap member 15 may if desired, be rovided with lugs whicproject into the coi spring 21, so that the latter will be held inproper assembled position upon the section The actuating means for thevalve is positioned preferably in a position convenient for themanipulation of an operator, and this actuating mechanism is secured toa clamp member 25 encircling and secured to the pipe 6 above the surfaceof the ground. This clamp member has secured to one side thereof anupwardly extending metallic plate 26, from the upper end of which anangularly and outwardly extending lockin arm 27 projects. This arm 27 isrecesse as at 28 on one side, and this recessed portion is adapted toaccommodate the actuating lever 29 pivoted as at 30 upon an outwardlyextending car 31 carried by the clamp member 25. The locking arm 27 isso positioned with relation to the outwardly extending car 31 thatlateral springing of the lever 29 is required to engage the lever withinthe notch 28, or to disengage the lever from the locking arm. The lever29 is provided upon one side with an outwardly extending'stud 32, towhich one end of a connectin rod or link 33 is secured, the opposite enof the said rod being secured to a stud 34 projecting outwardly from theupper arm of the bell-crank lever 18.

It will be observed, particularly with reference to Fig. 1 of thedrawing, that the pivot 30 supporting the lever 29 is located in avertical plane beyond the vertical plane of the stud 34 of thebell-crank lever 18, and therefore when the lever 29 is moved inwardlyinto locking engagement within the notch 28, the stud 32 will havepassed beyond a dead center through the stud 32, pivot 30, andbell-crank lever stud 34. This articular arrangement constitutes anefcicnt locking means for the actuating lever as it will be necessary toovercome this dead center before the actuating lever can be moved toreleasing position.

After a device of my invention has been properly installed in a wellpipe, and it is desired to actuate the pump within the pipe, the lever29 is disengaged from the locking arm 27, whereupon the spring 21 movesthe valve head to seated position. When so positioned, no water canescape from the interior of the pipe. When it is desired to drain thewater standing in the pipe, the lever is moved upwardly and inwardly,until locked within the notch 28 of the looking arm 27. This operationof the locking lever rocks the bell-crank 18 so that the finger 19thereof moves inwardly, carrying with it the inner of the upper end ofthe valve stem 11. This movement of the valve stem 11 causes the head 12to move away from the pipe section 7, whereupon the port or opening 13will be uncovered, so that the water Within the pipe may draintherefrom.

It is obvious from the foregoing that I have provided an extremelysimple and thoroughly eflicient means for carrying out the objects ofthe invention. The simplicity of the valve and controlling meanstherefor enables the same to be easily and positively actuated, anddanger of breakage or derangement of these parts will be reduced to aminimum.

\Vhile the present is a disclosure of the preferred embodiment of theinvention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limitedthereto, as various changes in the minor details of construction,proportion and arrangement of parts may be resorted to if desiredwithout departin from the spirit of the invention as defined by theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a pipe, of a valve in said pi e, a springtending normally to hold sai valve in seating position, a bell-cranklever, a finger on said lever engaged with said valve, an operatinglever and a connection between said lever an said bell-crank leverwhereby operations of said lever will force said valve against thetension of said spring.

2. The combination with a pipe, a bearing member on said pipe, the saidpipe being provided with an opening, a valve stem pivoted in saidbearing member, a head on said valve stem adapted to seat over saidopening, a spring for normally holding said stem in valve closingosition, a bell-crank lever, a finger on said lever enga ed with saidstem, an operating lever, an a connection between said operating leverand said bell-crank lever for moving said valve stem against the tensionof said spring.

3. The combination with a pipe having an opening therein, a bearingmember carried by said pipe, a valve stem pivoted in said bearingmember, a head carried b one end of said stem for seating over saiopening, an arm on said pipe, a bell-crank lever pivoted upon said arm,a finger on one of the arms of said'bell-crank lever disposed in thepath of travel of said valve stem, 2, In testimony whereof I aflix mysignature sprin tending normally to force said stem in presence of twowitnesses.

in va e closing position, a lever pivoted to WILLIAM NOAL LINDSEY. saidpipe, and a link connecting said lever Witnesses:

5 with the opposite arm of said bell-crank D. F. Knomox,

lever. W. A. WARNER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

